Slow Playing Can Get You In Trouble

If you want to increase your poker skills and learn to crush the games, check out Jonathan Little’s elite training site at PokerCoaching.com/CardPlayer.

In a recent $1,500 buy-in World Series of Poker event, with the blinds at 100-200 with a 200 big blind ante, everyone folded to me in the lojack seat and I raised to 500 with Q J.

So far in this tournament, I had played a relatively tight, aggressive strategy.

The player in the cutoff, who was unknown to me, called, as did the player on the button. Both blinds folded.

When you raise before the flop and do not get reraised, it is safe to assume that you are not against premium preflop hands, such as pocket aces and A-K. Instead, you are likely against a range of reasonable hands including marginal pairs, big cards, and suited connectors.

The flop came Q 5 4, giving me top pair with a backdoor flush draw. I decided to bet 800 into the 2,000 pot, and both my opponents called.

When betting in a multi-way pot, you usually want to use a small size because you will rarely have a large range and nut advantage. While Q-5-4 is not the best flop to bet on because it should connect well with my opponents’ ranges, as long as I expect my opponents to call too often with marginal made hands and junky draws, value betting Q-J is fine.

That said, if hands that Q-J crushes like 7-7 and A-J will fold, then checking becomes ideal.

The turn was the 10, giving me a flush draw in addition to my top pair. I bet 1,400 into the 4,400 pot.

Checking may be ideal, but as long as your opponents will call with numerous inferior hands, continuing to build the pot with a made hand that is usually good plus a premium draw is a strong option.

To my surprise, the cutoff raised to 4,200. The button folded.

At this point, if the cutoff plays well at all, he should have a premium hand, perhaps two pair and better, and a few premium draws such as K J. Even though I am likely beat at the moment, calling with my flush draw makes sense due to the pot odds plus the implied odds.

I have to put in 2,800 more to win the 10,000 pot plus the 2,800 more I would be putting in, meaning I needed to win at least 2,800/12,800 = 22% of the time.

In the worst-case scenario, when my opponent has three of a kind, I will only win 18% of the time, making this call slightly unprofitable. Against three of a kind though, I will likely be able to get the rest of my stack in on the river when I make a flush. If my opponent does not have a set, my call is immediately profitable.

I called 2,800 more. The river was the beautiful A, completing my flush.

On this extremely scary river, my opponent will be highly likely to check behind with three of a kind. While leading on the river rarely makes sense, in this spot it is the only good option.

I pushed all-in for 6,500 and after some thought, my opponent called off with three fours, giving me a full double up.

So, where did my opponent go wrong? He should have simply raised my bet on the flop.

When you flop three of a kind on a draw-heavy board, you should be happy to build a pot immediately. Instead, my opponent decided to make a small raise on the turn, forcing me to continue with all my draws, all of which have excellent equity. This time, his error cost him his tournament life.

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Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion with more than $7 million in live tournament earnings, best-selling author of 15 educational poker books, and 2019 GPI Poker Personality of the Year. If you want to increase your poker skills and learn to crush the games, check out his training site at PokerCoaching.com/cardplayer.